Remove parasites

New on this, I got a tank with two discus and three angel fish, I have read that at least ones a month we need to remove parasite from fish but I donīt know what to usu for that, could you recomend me something!

I'm not sure what would be available in Italy, but there are several vendors here that sell medicated flake foods. If you cannot find anything comparable, you can soak flakes, pellets, or freeze-dried foods in de-worming medications. I know some will also add a few drops of garlic juice to the mix as an appetite stimulant and also mask some of the bitterness of the medications. As for the specific regimen and frequency, I think you'll find that to be something of a trial and error process that won't be the same for every tank/aquarist. But you're wise to think of this in a pre-emptive fashion as once these fish stop eating the outlook for recovery is much worse.

I got a friend in the United States who brings me all needed for my tank so if you can recomend me something, even it is sold on the States, if you know any Brand or the name of the medication I can use, I can get it. Thanks!

In the USA they sell something called PraziPro. It kills ALL worms in the tank and EVERYTHING else is unharmed and unaffected. You can also soak your fish's food in PraziPro and feed it to them directly, which will kill the parasite in them. I had been told of that method for my reef tanks, but they had lots of corals and other inhabitants that I didn't want to lose. Freshwater plants, snails, shrimp and all other things will be fine.

If you can find PraziPro, get some! Or have your friend send it to you. It's fairly cheap.

As a preventative, the target is killed off, and should not come back, unless you add new fish, or feed live foods from contaminated sources (for example if you go to the local lake and catch live foods)
So I do not treat monthly.

New fish should be treated in a quarantine tank before you add them to the main tank.

A UV sterilizer might be an option too, as long as you have the flow low enough through it to kill parasites. I keep angels too and would lose them periodically likely from parasites. I used the anti protozoan flakes from angels plus, a few days of whole tank treatment with metronidazole, then added an 18w intank UV sterilizer by deep blue sea which I run about 6 hours at night when the CO2 is off. Haven't lost a single fish in many months. Good luck!

New on this, I got a tank with two discus and three angel fish, I have read that at least ones a month we need to remove parasite from fish but I donīt know what to usu for that, could you recomend me something!

You read that once a month you need to treat your tank for parasites? That's not true.
Are your discus and angels showing any signs of disease or illness?

Prazipro (praziquantel) is typically used for deworming fish of tapeworms, but will not kill all types of worms or nematodes. It can kill flukes but if not used for an extended aggressive treatment will not kill fluke eggs so then the problem comes back once the lifecycle completes. Most fish respond well to praziquantel treatment and I have used it to treat for possible tapeworm and unsuccessfully treated for flukes. Did not kill the eggs.

It's really best to treat for diseases that you physically are seeing signs of in your fish. White feces, flashing, clamped fins, not eating etc. First rule out basics like ammonia poisoning, water parameters, being a newly introduced fish in your tank and needing an adjustment period, tank mates picking on them etc.

Fish have immune systems as we do that can handle disease and may show no signs of illness, but may in fact be sick. When you start treating randomly with medications you can do more damage than good. They can compromise the fish's immune system. Medications cause a lot of stress on the fish. If your treating with the wrong meds that do nothing but weaken your fish's immune system the disease/parasite they might actually have can take a better grip on your fish and kill them. Leaving you guessing what the hell happened. So sometimes its best to not just throw meds in your tank unless you really know what's causing your fish's illness.

If your going to be keeping very expensive and larger species of fish such as discus I'd recommend buying a microscope. You can do skin and gill scrapes of your fish to find flukes, test feces for parasites etc. It's one of the best things I ever bought and i've been able to identify issues and treat them accurately. Proper quarantine procedures with these fish that so commonly carry pests is important to prevent harm to healthy stock.

Yea if there is no signs of the parasite you can do more harm treating them. You can build up drug resistance forms of the parasite. The more you expose a fish to the medications the less effect it is going to have on them. Always quarantine new fish before adding them to your tank. There is nothing wrong with treating a quarantined fish in the tank just to make sure.

But do not do it on a monthly basis unless they show signs that they are sick. Meds can make the immune system weak and cause the parasite to attack the weak fish then it is game over and you will be getting some new fishes. Just keep up with your weekly water changes and keep them in a clean and stable enviroment and theyll live for a long time. Good luck.

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